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■ Outcomes of Each Research Project■

IGESAnnual Report

FY2003

Outcomes of Each Research Project

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IGESAnnual Report

FY2003

Outline of the Second Phase Project PlanThe mission of the Climate Policy (CP) project is to

identify, design and/or evaluate pragmatic climate poli-

cies for sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific

region. In Phase 2, the main objectives of our work were

to propose a comprehensive policy mix for Japan to

attain the Kyoto targets, identify effective measures for

promoting international cooperation in Asian climate pol-

icy, and lay the basis for work on beyond Kyoto issues

and adaptation policies. Substantial progress was made

in meeting all these goals.

Report on Activities during FY2003Research in FY 2003, the last year of Phase 2, was

conducted under four sub-themes: 1) domestic policies,

2) international cooperation, 3) vulnerability and adapta-

tion, and 4) global participation in future climate regime.

1)In the sub-theme of domestic policies, the main

focus was on assessment of climate policies in the

European Union (EU) in general, and Germany and the

USA in particular, along with its implications for Japan.

As a first step, progress in development of climate poli-

cies at the EU level and at a member state level in Ger-

many was assessed. It was concluded that difficulties in

reconciling interests of various stakeholders at different

decision making levels (Fig.) contributed to slow

progress in the development of effective climate policy

at the EU level. By working as a visiting researcher at

the IUCN Environmental Law Centre and Wuppertal

Institute in Germany, one of our staff multilayer structure

of climate policy development in EU members initiated

studies on the directive making process of the EU emis-

sions trading scheme (EU-ETS), and analysed its impli-

cations for Japan. This work is of great significance as

the EU-ETS would cover an increasingly large propor-

tion of the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions regu-

lated under the Kyoto Protocol, and the birth of the first

regional ETS is expected to indirectly affect develop-

ment of climate policies and measures in Japan.

As the USA is the biggest GHG emitter, its policies

have a crucial role in the stabilisation of the global cli-

mate. However, the US decided to withdraw from the

Kyoto Protocol in 2001. We therefore examined policies

at state and local levels to assess their contributions to

the global climate. It was concluded that state level ini-

tiatives merit appreciation, but do not meet the expecta-

tions of the global community, and that there is a strong

need for integrating such initiatives with those of the

Federal Government. At the request of the Japanese

Ministry of the Environment (MoEJ), we compiled vari-

ous reports on domestic policies in the US, and submit-

ted them at regular intervals. In cooperation with the

Resource for the Future (RFF), we held a one-and-a-

half day workshop in Washington DC to review domestic

policies in the US and Japan, and prospects for bilateral

collaboration. At the workshop, bilateral cooperation was

Climate Policy Project (CP)

International level

EU Level

Umbrella

Parliament

Parliament

ECJ

Industry

EU Commission

EEA

Councils of Ministers

EU CG11

G77+China

EnvironmentalIntegrity

Ministires

NGOsLander

Chancellor ‥

Member states(e.g.Germany)

DG EnvironmentDG EnergyDG IndustryDG CompetitionDG Finance etc

BMUBMWABMFBMWF etc

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IGESAnnual Report

FY2003

considered the most appropriate especially in the field of

technology development and commercialisation.

2) In the sub-theme of international cooperation, we

focused on the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

The success of CDM, and therefore the ability of Japan

to benefit from it, rests on the capacity of Asian develop-

ing countries to develop and screen CDM projects.

Building the capacity of policy makers, the private sector

and academia in the region to identify, develop and

implement CDM projects can increase opportunities for

transfer of clean technologies and finances to mitigate

climate change, thereby contributing to a range of bene-

fits, including reduced air pollution, improved natural

resource management, and of course, the mitigation of

climate change impacts. At MoEJ's request, we initiated

in October 2003 a 3-year programme on integrated

capacity strengthening for CDM focusing on three sec-

tors: waste management, biomass and other renewable

sources of energy, and small scale integrated CDM proj-

ects. The programme operates based on three princi-

ples: synergy, simplicity and sustainability. The promo-

tion of stakeholder dialogues is a key component of the

programme. Under this programme, as many as 25

local, national and regional workshops aimed at

strengthening the capacity of various stakeholders were

held from October 2003 to March 2004 in Cambodia,

Indonesia, India and the Philippines, in collaboration

with various local, national and international organisa-

tions (e.g., UNEP). A presentation on capacity building

needs of Asian countries based on missions to Indone-

sia, Thailand, Cambodia and India was made at the 13th

Asia-Pacific Seminar on Climate Change in Miyazaki,

Japan. In order to publicise our efforts and build further

networks in the CDM, a side event was held at COP9 in

Milan in December 2003. At this event, we presented

"methodological and technological barriers for CDM

implementation in Asia" and the "IGES initiative on inte-

grated capacity strengthening for CDM in Asia". In addi-

tion, one of our researchers discussed Japan's policy to

put CDM into operation at the Climate Technology

IGESFigure1. Interviews with village officials and villagers on local flood management strategies in Manikganj sub-district, Bangladesh

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IGESAnnual Report

FY2003

Bazaar held in Delhi, India. As a follow-up to climate pol-

icy dialogues held in previous years during this phase,

and to fulfil the need for further promotion of information

outreach in the climate policy arena in the region, the

idea of developing country-specific climate policy fact

sheets was proposed at the World Climate Change Con-

ference held in Moscow.

3) In the sub-theme of vulnerability and adaptation

issues, a field survey was conducted in Bangladesh in

July and August 2003 to identify good local practices

aimed at facilitating adaptation to climate extremes

(droughts, floods and sea level rise), examine the utility

of local assessments of vulnerability, and identify ways

to integrate indigenous knowledge in climate change

adaptation plans (photo). A few good practices were

documented for inclusion in the Good Practices Invento-

ry of the sub-project called "Research on Innovative and

Strategic Options (RISPO)". The field survey considered

perceptions of local people on climate change events

and key indicators of their vulnerability, main coping

strategies and frequency of strategy use, and assessed

the potential for facilitating further adaptation through

policy and technology choices, and institutional arrange-

ments. The survey revealed that local/indigenous sur-

vival strategies still remain the most reliable and sustain-

able forms of response to climate extremes. The survey

showed variation between men and women in percep-

tions of the same climate extreme. In Shyamnagar

region, for example, men perceived salinity build-up due

to current sea level rise as an advantage for improving

income levels as it allowed them to shift from paddy to

shrimp cultivation. Women, however, considered it a

curse, and reported difficulties mainly in obtaining fresh

water for drinking. The survey also showed that first

generation "top-down" assessments of vulnerability and

adaptive capacity based on scenario-based global cli-

mate models did not adequately consider local climate

variability and concerns of key local stakeholders. Find-

ings from this survey were presented at the Open Meet-

ing of the International Human Dimensions Programme

(IHDP) held in Montreal in October 2003. As mountain

ecosystems are one of the highly vulnerable regions

affected by climate change, an international workshop

"Adaptation to climate change in mountain ecosystems:

Bridging research and policy" was held in March 2004 in

Kathmandu, Nepal. The participants concluded that fur-

ther efforts to disseminate research in a form suitable to

facilitate decision making by planners is critical in future.

4) In this year, work on governance and beyond

Kyoto issues was init iated. One of our visit ing

researchers examined the global climate change regime

building process and its relation to domestic capacity

and regional organisation. As per COP guidelines, dis-

cussions on the creation of an international framework

applicable after 2012 are expected to commence in

2005. As part of this preparatory work, we organised a

public symposium on post-Kyoto issues for Japanese

stakeholders, and an informal expert consultation in

Tokyo in October 2003. The symposium was well

attended, with over 300 participants representing vari-

Figure 2: Open symposium on "International climate regime beyond 2012" at Fukoku Seimei Building, TokyoIGESＣ

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IGESAnnual Report

FY2003

ous sections of society. In order to publicise this

research and establish a cooperative framework with

various organisations, we held a side event at COP9 in

Milan where we disseminated a preliminary publication

on incentives for global participation. In collaboration

with NIES, we published a summary report on important

side events related to the post-Kyoto discussions held at

COP9. At MoEJ's request, our researchers provided rel-

evant data, information digests and other summary

reports as a basis for discussions on post-Kyoto issues

by the Global Environmental Committee of the Central

Environmental Council.

In addition to the above, several commissioned

research tasks were undertaken at the request of vari-

ous ministries in Japan. At MoEJ's request, for example,

we prepared reports on compliance issues of the Kyoto

protocol and on current information disclosure laws in

the USA, Germany and Japan, in order to assist Japan-

ese policy makers in their negotiations.

Besides research, the CP project was active in

information outreach and capacity building. Through

organising and contributing to a number of national and

international workshops, we were successful in raising

general awareness and knowledge among people on cli-

mate change-related issues in the region, and subse-

quently a regard for such issues in policy making and

development planning of various sectors. Besides stimu-

lating discussions among the policy makers, industry,

the general public and other stakeholders, our work-

shops contributed to promoting public knowledge of cli-

mate policy issues and options in Asia. Throughout this

work, the CP project maintained excellent partnerships

with other IGES projects and various organisations

abroad.

Looking Towards the Third PhaseThe long-term nature of the challenge of climate

change, however, requires long-term efforts to design

coherent and durable policy options that can maximise

environmental protection and sustainable development

in Asia. Based on our accomplishments and progress so

far, we are confident that our project is well-positioned to

contribute to meeting this challenge in Phase 3 and

beyond by working on topics such as domestic policies,

Kyoto mechanisms, beyond Kyoto issues, and adapta-

tion policies.

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IGESAnnual Report

FY2003

Outline of the Second Phase Project PlanThe aim of the Forest Conservation (FC) Project

was to develop strategies for forest conservation and

management for sustainable forests. To achieve this

goal, various approaches could be considered, but we

aimed to create guidelines and advice to promote "local

level participation in forest management", an approach

which we hoped would help alleviate poverty and ensure

sustainable forest management.

1) Developing Village Action Guidelines (VAG) for vil-

lage level participants in forest management and other

stakeholders,

2) Developing Local Policy Guidelines (LPG) for local

level (state or regional) governments and other stake-

holders, and

3) Developing National Policy Recommendations (NPR)

to ensure the effective application of international

treaties on local participation in forest management at

the national level.

The FC project conducted research using a combi-

nation of two approaches. The first was the local

approach through VAG. Starting with analysis on a vil-

lage level, this approach expanded the viewpoint to a

local and central government level. We used a method

called Participatory Action Research (PAR). This is a

process whereby citizens study alongside researchers,

concerning issues to improve their own way of life. Fur-

thermore, we held small workshops with village and dis-

trict level participation. The second approach was the

"international approach" using NPR. This studied issues

first from an international level and then shifted its focus

to the national and local levels. These two approaches

were combined through local level discussions, particu-

larly in the process of forming LPG.

The countries used for research in the Second

Phase were Indonesia, Lao PDR, and Far East Russia.

Strategic policy research is important in these three

countries from the viewpoint of their political characteris-

tics and the state of their forests and forest manage-

ment. Indonesia is not only the most important country

in the world in terms of biodiversity conservation, but it is

also a country in transition to democracy. The Lao PDR

is in transition to a market economy and Russia is mak-

ing progress in political reforms and is also in transition

to a market economy.

Report on Activities during FY2003FY 2003 was the final year of the Second Phase

and we completed a summary of the main results. In

concrete terms, we have formulated guidelines, drawn

up reports summarising the studies of research process-

es, as well as publishing the results of project activities

commercially.

In FY 2003, we held meetings and workshops in

Indonesia, Russia and Lao PDR to conduct final discus-

sions and formulate guidelines for each country. In

October 2003, we held an international workshop in

Khabarovsk, Russia, where there were discussions with

researchers on Village Action Guidelines (VAG), Local

Policy Guidelines (LPG) and National Policy Recom-

mendations (NPR) for participatory forest management.

Following that, we went ahead with revisions to our work

and drew up the "Guidelines and Recommendations for

Sustainable and Participatory Forest Use and Manage-

ment". This was published first in English and then in the

Indonesian, Laotian and Russian languages.

In addition, we published the "Indonesian Country

Report", "Laos Country Report", the "Russian Country

Report" and the "Policy Trend Report" summarising

study results of the process of guideline formulation. We

also published commercially a summary of research

results from the First and Second Phases "People and

Forest ? Policy and Local Reality in Southeast Asia, the

Russian Far East and Japan" published by the Kluwer

Academic Publisher, and also "Forest Depletion and

Conservation in Asia" by Chuohoki Publishers.

Looking Towards the Third PhaseResearch activit ies on Participatory Action

Research, including local citizens and regional govern-

ments, were very timely for the main stakeholders tar-

geted by our project. These stakeholders, facing local

decentralisation policies, were in need of support and

cooperation from outside sources such as development

Forest Conservation Project (FC)

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IGESAnnual Report

FY2003

specialists, academics, NGOs and other international

organisations. Eradication of poverty in the local com-

munity is a pressing problem which needs the combined

efforts of other stakeholders. Our research focused on

citizens' participation, and in this respect was particularly

opportune. On the project management side, our staff,

including the project leader and manager, were able to

share work and cooperate successfully with other

researchers. The FC project showed strong solidarity

and wonderful teamwork. However, we were unable to

make our presence sufficiently felt internationally, as

pointed out by the Board of Directors. Neither were we

able to find a path linking the guidelines we had made

on a local level, to forest conservation as a whole in

Asia. To this end, we will lay out strategies in the Third

Phase towards "Cooperative Forest Governance" target-

ing the local government level, as well as trying to bring

our results onto the international stage.

IGESＣ

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IGESAnnual Report

FY2003

Urban Environmental Management Project (UE)

Outline of the Second Phase Project PlanThe primary objective of the Urban Environmental

Management Project (UE) is to conduct strategic

research to guide the environmentally sound develop-

ment of Asian cities with diverse economic and social

conditions. In the Second Phase (FY2001-2003), UE

conducted research tailored towards highlighting exam-

ples of policy options, institutional systems, technical

choices, urban planning, infrastructure development and

financial mechanisms for better urban environmental

management. Research was conducted under the fol-

lowing themes:

1) Study on the Process Dynamics of Urban Environ-

mental Evolution,

2) Urban Policy Integration of Energy related Environ-

mental Issues in Selected Asian Mega-cities,

3) Support for the Implementation of the Kitakyushu Ini-

tiative Network.

Report on Activities during FY2003The UE project concluded research under the

above themes, focusing on the development of environ-

mental indicators, development of urban environmental

management capacity, evaluation of the role of public

participation and private sector partnerships to improve

urban environmental infrastructure, and evaluation of

the impact of energy on greenhouse gas emissions and

associated policies. Regarding the development of indi-

cators, a detailed analysis of Kitakyushu City was con-

ducted using the Environmental Asset Approach and

various urban environmental management assets of the

city were compiled into a database. When looking into

urban environmental management capacity, the major

focus was on partnerships between various actors:

national and local governments, the private sector and

individual citizens. Public-private partnerships for water

supply and wastewater projects were analysed to assist

Weihai (China) IGESＣ

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IGESAnnual Report

FY2003

local governments in establishing local public-private

partnerships for small scale projects. In solid waste

management, the focus was on public participation and

community driven projects. For better air quality man-

agement, partnerships between local and national gov-

ernments were addressed. In the areas of energy and

GHG, the activities of the last three years were consoli-

dated and a simulation of transportation for the residen-

tial and commercial sectors was completed for four

cities along with a survey and evaluation of past and

present policies.

The outcomes of the research activities were dis-

seminated to urban policy makers, international agen-

cies, and academic researchers at various international

workshops and seminars. A number of reports and other

types of publication were published in FY 2003, includ-

ing the report entitled Financial Mechanisms for Environ-

mental Protection in China that was published in cooper-

ation with the China Council for International Coopera-

tion on Environment and Development. Moreover, the

project organised workshops and seminars, including

the International Workshop on Sustainable Urban Envi-

ronment in Asia (August 2003), the Surabaya Air Quality

Workshop (August 2002), the Local Air Quality Manage-

ment - Better Air Quality (BAQ) 2003 Workshop

(December 2003), the International Workshop on Policy

Integration Towards Sustainable Urban Energy Use for

Asian Cities: Interacting Local Air Pollution and Green-

house Gas Emissions Concern (January 2004), and the-

matic seminars on industrial relocation and public partic-

ipation under the Kitakyushu Initiative, in August 2003

and January 2004, respectively.

Looking Towards the Third PhaseThe overall objective of the third phase of the Pro-

ject is to provide policy makers in Asian cities with

strategies and measures to strengthen their manage-

ment capacity to improve urban environmental services

and infrastructure. This overall objective is further segre-

gated into hypotheses for specific sectors: air, water and

solid waste management. Identifying the increasing

importance of balanced roles between the public and

private sectors for the delivery of these services, it is

proposed to address this aspect as a cross-cutting issue

across all of these three major sectors, but with the main

focus on water. All of the activities will focus on deriving

strategies for three different groups of cities: less devel-

oped, rapidly industrialising, and relatively mature cities.

Primarily, the Project's target group is municipal policy

makers in Asia.

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IGESAnnual Report

FY2003

Environmental Education Project (EE)

Summary of Second Phase project planIn the first phase, the EE project worked on gaining

an understanding of current environmental education in

Asia and the Pacific, as well as developing comprehen-

sive strategies to promote environmental education.

This research, while improving environmental education

in the Asia Pacific region, also showed how important

such work will be in the future. Furthermore, it was

found that environmental education should be put into

practice urgently in the Asia Pacific region and the EE

project is putting priority on practical activities to achieve

this aim.

We have proposed policies based on the evaluation

of environmental education in the Asia Pacific region

and, through strategies developed in the first phase, we

tried to establish IGES as a base to be used as a centre

for future environmental education in Asia and the Pacif-

ic. Activities in the second phase covered the following

three areas: 1)Development of materials for environ-

mental education, 2)Nurturing of human resources for

environmental education, and 3)Proposal of an innova-

tive model for environmental education.

Report on Activities during FY2003The activities of this project for FY 2003 were based

on the Second Phase Strategic Research Plan and were

carried out as the final year of Phase 2.

1) Wetlands education materials: We developed mate-

rials aimed at heightening awareness on the wise use

and conservation of wetlands. Four modules were creat-

ed based on draft copies and information gathered thus

far by concerned parties. The modules are: Let us Keep

our Wetlands Healthy; What is Happening to our Fresh-

water Resources; Developing Objective-oriented Pro-

grammes, and Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA). We

first developed an English-language booklet and then

printed the material in Thai and local Indian languages.

The booklets were then distributed at wetland conserva-

tion locations by researchers in each country.

2)EE Training programme for NGO staff in Indonesia:

Every year since 1999, the EE project has implemented

a training programme for NGO staff in Indonesia, in col-

laboration with the Japan International Cooperation

Agency (JICA). The training programme has been held

four times so far and the number of participants has

grown to over 20. Workshops are led by former partici-

pants of the training programme for NGO staff who are

currently engaged in environmental education activities

locally in Indonesia. In the workshops, a review of

research projects so far is conducted, and there are dis-

cussions on research content, training results and future

prospects. As a result of the workshops, the staff partici-

pating from environmental education NGOs in Indonesia

have gained improved skills and participants become

leaders in their various NGOs and communities. They

developed to the stage where they can conduct training

themselves.

3)Educational Research into Eco-tourism: In local

areas in developing countries, we seek to sustain natu-

ral and social resources while conducting tourism and

we have worked on introducing EE simultaneously for

local people and tourists. To this end, EE project con-

ducted a field survey on eco-tourism in Phase 2. We

focused particularly on the Tonle Sap Lake area in Cam-

bodia and conducted a trial eco-tour. We were able to

ascertain the technical process involved in an eco-tour

through field surveys before and after the tour, hearings

with concerned parties, cooperation with local travel

agents, and questionnaires put to the participants before

and after the tour.

4)TEEN: The Tripartite Environmental Education Net-

work (TEEN) made up of China, Korea and Japan had

been operating since FY2000. Based on information and

data supporting this network, the EE project has con-

ducted comparative research on environmental educa-

tion in the three TEEN countries. The Fourth TEEN

workshop and symposium was held in January 2004 in

Shizuoka, Japan. The EE project leader was one of the

participants, contributing to the creation of a network of

policy makers, NGO staff and researchers.

5)Workshop in Nepal on Education for Sustainable

Development (ESD): The EE project held the "Seminar

Workshop for ESD" in Kathmandu, Nepal on 27-28

August 2003. The aim of this conference was to conduct

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IGESAnnual Report

FY2003

a workshop with the participants from Nepal's education

system, public administration and NGOs, to think how

best to introduce ESD in developing countries like

Nepal. There was also discussion on the way forward in

ESD. The results of this conference were summed up in

"Education for Sustainable Development in Nepal:

Views and Vision".

Looking Towards the Third PhaseThe EE project has spent the last 6 years since

1998 researching and implementing environmental edu-

cation. In those 6 years, new international trends have

emerged. The UN declared the ten-year period from

2005 as the UN Decade on Education for Sustainable

Development, led by UNESCO with Japan as one of the

main proposal-makers. Such new trends in global edu-

cation are expected to draw a great deal of attention

world-wide. As one of the issues taken up in the Third

Phase, IGES will investigate the level of engagement in

the UN scheme, by developing practical plans and con-

ducting research as a participant in this scheme.

People in Nepal IGESＣ

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IGESAnnual Report

FY2003

Freshwater Resources Management Project (FW)

Outline of the Second Phase PlanThe 21st century is often called the "century for

water", and water resource issues have become a large

global problem. With this in mind, IGES established the

Freshwater Resources Management Project (FW) as a

new research project in the Second Phase. We began

research into means to use and manage limited fresh-

water resources in a sustainable manner. This new proj-

ect, prepared under the Long Term Perspective and Pol-

icy Integration Project (LTP), conducted practical studies

on research themes and methodology.

In November 2003, the "Freshwater Resources

Management Project (FW)" was launched (project

leader: Professor Ogaki, from the Department of Urban

Engineering, School of Engineering, University of

Tokyo) and began operations.

Report on Activities during FY2003As the project was only formally launched in

November 2003, this fiscal year focused on preparation

and characteristics of proper research implementation in

the Third Phase. We also looked into the framework for

the initiative "Water Environment Partnership in Asia

(WEPA)" proposed by the Ministry of the Environment of

Japan at the 3rd World Water forum. The details of

activities in FY 2003 are set out below.

1. Policy reviews on comprehensive water

resource management in Asia and studies into

present and future issues of freshwater resource

management.

Established in FY 2002, the Study Group on Fresh-

water Resource Management in Asia investigated

various problems concerning freshwater resources

in Asia.

2. Contributions to APFED's final report and com-

mitment.

We were in charge of writing the section on water

resources for the APFED final report.

3. Contributions to WEPA.

WEPA is the initiative proposed by Ministry of the

WEPA Inception Workshop IGESＣ

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IGESAnnual Report

FY2003

Environment of Japan at the 3rd World Water

Forum in Kyoto in March 2003. It aims to promote

water environment conservation by creating data-

bases as an information platform based on partner-

ships among the relevant countries in the region.

On the verge of beginning work in FY 2004, the FW

project was involved in formulating a proposed plan

for the programme in FY 2003, as one of the coop-

erative organisations for WEPA. In practical terms,

we established a steering committee made up of

specialists from Japan, and as well as making

preparatory studies into the content of the databas-

es, we also held a "WEPA Inception Workshop" in

March 2004, in Jakarta, Indonesia. Participants

came from 10 countries connected to the Asian

monsoon. In the summary of this workshop, the

chairman confirmed the progress made by the

WEPA programme through partnership with each

country involved.

Looking Towards the Third PhaseIn Third Phase Strategic Research, the FW project

will target Asian cities and their surroundings, looking at

water resource policies from a wider viewpoint, and will

conduct research to provide a comprehensive policy

design for the sustainable use of water resources. Con-

cretely, we will try to focus on research in cooperation

with institutes from across Asia. However, it is neces-

sary to think out and establish a plan for the Third Phase

Strategic Research at the earliest possible time, to

decide how to provide policy-makers with a system to

implement research in cooperation with other research

institutions, and offer them concrete results.

We will continue playing a positive role in the

WEPA programme, and based on the results of the

WEPA Inception Workshop, we will continue to cooper-

ate to create an organic partnership with the nations of

Asia. It is also necessary to look into the practical details

of the databases.

In order to steadily implement research activities, it

is necessary not only to hire new research staff but also

to strengthen the capabilities of the staff. Furthermore,

we need to build stronger links with other IGES projects

such as the Urban Environmental Management Project

(UE).

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IGESAnnual Report

FY2003

Business and the Environment Project (BE)

Outline of the Second Phase PlanThis project (BE) is based at the Kansai Research

Centre and carries out activities with the theme of

"Research towards environmental protection in the pri-

vate sector". BE has been working towards the integra-

tion of environmental management methods and corpo-

rate management systems by analysing and evaluating

current corporate volunteer conservation activities,

including environmental accounting, environmental dis-

closure and environmental management evaluation. It

aims to propose concrete measures to promote corpo-

rate conservation activities as well as a socioeconomic

system to put them into practice.

Report on Activities during FY20031) Environmental Accounting:

a) Survey of environmental management accounting:

We conducted a survey among companies listed in the

1st section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Environmental

accounting in Japanese corporations has mainly put

emphasis on information disclosure, but it is clear that

environmental accounting conducted as part of internal

management is slowly gaining ground. Furthermore, the

use of internal methods of environmental accounting,

expanding of powers of specialist environmental depart-

ments, and increases in the range of environmental

costs have all improved the effectiveness of environ-

mental accounting as part of internal management. b)

Case studies of environmental management account-

ing: Based on the above-mentioned survey, case stud-

ies were carried out of corporations with the most pro-

gressive environmental management accounting prac-

tices, namely those companies which had already imple-

mented a system to evaluate the accomplishments of

environmental considerations and material flow cost

accounting. In addition, continuing from the previous

year, we conducted research on the development of

methods of Material Flow Cost accounting with Shionogi

& Co. Ltd. and Nippon Paint Co. Ltd. as our research

sites. c) Analysis of Environmental Management Eval-

uation Indicators and Cost Evaluation: New trends in

environmental accounting are cost evaluation of the

results of environmental conservation and the develop-

ment of environmental management indicators such as

the eco-efficiency index. Analysis of these trends has

been carried out as a target for Japanese corporate

environmental reporting.

2) Environmental Disclosure: Continuing from the previ-

ous year, we conducted a survey of around 2500 com-

panies listed on the stock exchange to assess the situa-

tion regarding the publication of environmental reports.

The results showed a slow-down in the number of com-

panies publishing reports. However, there was more

response to the needs of a wider audience. There was

also increasing focus on sustainability reports in combi-

nation with company reports. We also carried out a sur-

vey targeting the reports published from 2000̃2003 by

the automobile, chemical and beer brewing industries to

analyse comparability among environmental reports

from various industries. The conditions for increasing

comparability are being put into place, but it is clear that

there are issues remaining such as identification of the

Company Stakeholders

Economic Activities

Environmental Conservation

①Environmental Accouting(Environmental Management Accouting)

＝

-Stockholders, Investors-Consumers, Customers-Employee-Community-Goverment, etc.

②EnvironmentalInformation Disclosure

(Environmental Reports, etc)

EnvironmentalManagement Evaluation

③

Research area of the BE Project and the interrelationships between research themes

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IGESAnnual Report

FY2003

scope of documentation. We also conducted an internet

survey concerning the needs of the readers of environ-

mental reports. It could be seen that the report should

put different emphasis on its content depending on who

the main audience is. And it is necessary to respond to

the needs of the reader by making the most out of vari-

ous publication media while fulfilling accountability. After

investigating the reports of 2002 and 2003, it was clear

that despite a high interest, disclosure was often

delayed and there was no progress in disclosing prob-

lems such as contaminated stock.

3) Research on Environmental Management Evalua-

tion: All corporations, starting with global investment

institutions, have started to be evaluated on their envi-

ronmental management by various bodies including

domestic consumer organisations. However, there have

been various problems such as growing dissatisfaction

on the part of the companies being evaluated. This

research structurally grasped the change from the con-

ventional forms of corporate evaluation to corporate

evaluation which includes an environmental aspect. It

also analysed examples of internal and external environ-

mental management assessment. Various issues

became clear including those concerning methods of

corporate evaluation which develop indicators linking

internal and external evaluation. Other issues made

clear from the research dealt with evaluation results and

feedback from institutes implementing evaluation, and

structural issues regarding socio-economic systems for

the promotion of industries conducting environmental

management evaluation.

4) Other researches

a) Research on Asia and the Pacific: Watching the for-

mation of the east Asian economic sphere, we imple-

mented comparative research on corporate environmen-

tal management in Japan, China and South Korea. In

concrete terms, we conducted a survey of corporations

in China and South Korea based on a survey carried out

each year by the Japanese Environment Ministry. We

then compared the results from the three countries. The

results showed that Chinese corporations are making

good progress on policies concerning the setting up of

environmental goals but the introduction of management

tools such as LCA and environmental reports has been

slow. On the other hand, Korean corporate environmen-

tal management was shown to have made great

progress over the one-year period.

b) Creation of a Network: For a 10-month period, we

were joined by a researcher from the Tellus Institute

(Boston, USA) and deepened information exchange on

environmental accounting and servicising. We also

cooperated with the Wuppertal Institute (Germany) and

with the support of the Japanese-German Centre of

Berlin, a symposium was held in Berlin on October 13

and 14 with the theme of "Market Governance for Sus-

tainability". About 80 researchers and business persons

exchanged opinions on matters such as eco-design,

innovation, energy and incentives.

Looking Towards the Third PhaseAt the Kansai Research Centre, the Third Phase

Strategic Research "Business for Sustainable Society

(BSS)" project was launched, following on from the

"Business and the Environment" project. With ever more

severe restrictions on the global environment expected

in the future, we are planning to conduct research on

what kind of choices local society and businesses will

make in the medium and long term, regarding new

development scenarios for a sustainable society. We will

focus on showing these choices from the viewpoint of

environmental business and environmentally-balanced

technological and local systems. This work on

approaches and directions in relation to "business and

the environment" from a wider viewpoint, will be carried

out in coordination with other research institutes both

here and abroad, as well as businesses in the Kansai

area.various environmental reports

24


IGESAnnual Report

FY2003

Long-Term Perspective and Policy Integration Project (LTP)

The aim of Long-Term Perspective and Policy Inte-

gration (LTP) project is to conduct cross-cutting

research for sustainable development in Asia and the

Pacific, in collaboration with other IGES projects.

1. Asia-Pacific Environmental InnovationStrategy Project / Research on Innova-tive and Strategic Policy Options (APEIS/ RISPO)

Asia-Pacific Environmental Innovation Strategy Pro-

ject (APEIS) is an international joint project with partici-

pants from research institutes connected with the envi-

ronment and development, as well as other international

organisations and policy makers from countries in the

Aisa-Pacific region. The main aim of APEIS is to devel-

op support tools for policy makers based on technical

information, as well as proposing policy options. At the

same time, it proposes innovative and strategic policy

options to promote environmental innovations in the

region. APEIS is made up of three sub-projects: inte-

grated environmental monitoring (IEM); integrated envi-

ronmental assessment (IEA), and research on innova-

tive and strategic policy options (RISPO).

APEIS/RISPO, under the charge of IGES, brings

together an international joint research team made up of

research institutes and international organisations from

about 20 countries across the Asia-Pacific region to

work on 8 research sub-themes setting up, for example,

innovative financing mechanisms for renewable energy

development and environmentally sustainable transport

systems for urban areas. We also are implementing

research in conjunction with other IGES projects.

The LTP project aims to propose "Strategic Policy

Options" by March 2005, and in FY 2003, we made full

use of the cooperative system established amongst

research institutes in the region. We continue to conduct

research into good practices based on written surveys

and actual field studies in order to formulate a "Good

Practices Inventory" as a base for policy options. We

also looked into frameworks for strategic policy options

based on the good practices that were collected. In

March 2004, the Second RISPO Plenary workshop was

held in Japan so that the researchers and policy makers

from each country taking part in APEIS/RISPO could

share research results so far and discuss directions in

strategic policy options.

2. Asia-Pacific Forum for Environmentand Development (APFED)

APFED activities will continue until the end of 2004.

Now in the last stages of its study, APFED is making

preparations for a final report and the implementation of

the 3 commitments in the APFED Message. In 2003

there were two substantive meetings and a series of

meetings supporting APFED activities.

The LTP project was able to raise the level of

expertise in working towards the development of a draft

for the APFED final report. A zero draft was prepared by

the LTP project, which acts as the APFED secretariat,

and discussions on the zero draft were held at the

Fourth Substantive Meeting in Mongolia in August 2003.

Taking on board comments from APFED members in

this meeting, the LTP project formulated the first draft

with the cooperation of the United Nations University

(UNU) and the United Nations Environment Programme

(UNEP). In preparation for the first draft, there were

Expert Group meetings held in the Philippines and the

Republic of Palau. Furthermore, there was a Multi-

stakeholder Meeting in Sri Lanka in March 2004, in

order to closely examine the first draft.

The LTP project also works tirelessly to implement

the APFED commitments, particularly in developing

inventories for the capacity building programme and

examples of best policy practices. With the cooperation

of APFED members, we have collected more than 80

examples of best policy practices and we have devel-

oped the Best Policy Practices Database to be

announced at APFED 5. The Best Policy Practices

workshop was held in December 2003 at IGES head-

quarters. About 7 members of APFED were chosen to

participate and there were intense discussions on basic

Best Policy Practices and their future use. In addition,

we gathered and analysed information about the capaci-

ty building programme, through information submitted by

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IGESAnnual Report

FY2003

APFED members.

3. Environmental White Paper for Sus-tainable Development in the Asia-Pacificregion (tentative title:IGES White Paper)

At the Board of Directors Meeting in February 2001,

it was decided that the IGES White Paper (tentative title)

should be formulated and published as a IGES-wide ini-

tiative. The IGES White Paper aims to offer innovative

policy options and strategies for sustainable develop-

ment in the Asia-Pacific region through a cooperative

effort involving all IGES research projects and the

results then disseminated on a wide scale. The LTP

Project is serving as the overall coordinator, but this

project had the participation of all IGES projects and the

Secretariat.

A task force was established made up of represen-

tatives from IGES projects, Secretariat staff and a num-

ber of outside experts. They took the initiative by identi-

fying the elements that should be included in the project

plan and White Paper. As a result of such study, the

task force established the themes of the IGES White

Paper to analyse a vision of environmental governance

in Asia, based on changes that are making progress in

the Asia-Pacific region, such as globalisation, decentrali-

sation, and democratisation.

The work of the task force was subsequently picked

up by a core team of outside experts and LTP research

staff and whilst this core team drafted a general intro-

duction of 3 chapters for the IGES White Paper, the

remaining chapters were formulated by staff from each

of the IGES projects. In FY 2003, a draft of each chapter

was completed but because the content was inconsis-

tent, we are continuing to develop the details in FY

2004.

4. Priority Report on Sustainable Devel-opment in the North East Asia Sub-region

From 2003 to 2004, the United Nations Regional

Resource Centre for Asia and the Pacific (UNEP-

RRC.AP.) worked on the preparation process for the

World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)

and subsequently towards sustainable development for

the Asia-Pacific region post-WSSD. With an aim to

grasp the practical issues, it has formulated a priority

report on 5 sub-regions in the area (North East Asia,

South East Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the Pacif-

ic sub-region). IGES was assigned to formulate the Pri-

ority Report on Sustainable Development in the North

East Asia Sub-region. For this study, the LTP project

conducted written surveys and hearings on priority

IGESＣ

26


IGESAnnual Report

FY2003

issues in the North East Asia sub-region such as air pol-

lution, water quality, marine environment degradation,

soil erosion and desertification, destruction of forests

and loss of biodiversity, energy issues, poverty, popula-

tion issues and organisation, food safety, and sustain-

able industry and consumption. We formulated the

report by gaining information from IGES projects, gov-

ernment off icials from each country involved,

researchers, NGOs and other international organisa-

tions. It is expected that this report on North East Asia

sub-region will be published by the UNEP in conjunction

with other similar report from the other sub-regions, to

form a "Priority Report on Sustainable Development in

the Asia-Pacific Region" (tentative title).

5. State of the Environment Report 2005for North East Asia Sub-region

Every five years, the UN Economic and Social

Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) holds

the UNESCAP Ministerial Conference on Environment

and Development (MCED). The 5th MCED conference

is scheduled for March 2005 in South Korea and

UNESCAP is making progress in formulating the State

of the Environment Report in Asia and the Pacific

Report 2005 (SOE 2005) in time for the meeting. IGES

has been asked by UNESCAP to write one part of the

report, namely the chapter on the North East Asia sub-

region, and we are making good progress in its formula-

tion. We are hoping to submit a chapter on the most

important environmental issues in the North East Asia

sub-region, such as soil erosion, loss of biodiversity,

degradation of fresh water resources, industrial pollu-

tion, issues on cleaner production and energy, and

marine pollution, by gathering information on the caus-

es, current situation and measures taken with regard to

the issues.

As agreed at the Expert Group Workshop for SOE

2005 hosted by UNESCAP (Bangkok, September 2003),

and following the basic formulation of the report and the

main contents of each chapter, the LTP developed a

first draft of the chapter through accessing information

from IGES researchers, government officials and other

international organisations as well as using the experi-

ences and expertise accumulated thus far.

From April 2004, this draft will be reviewed by

experts appointed from each country in the North East

Asian sub-region, who will make improvements on the

chapter. It is expected that the report will be completed

by the end of 2004.

6. Environmental industry sub-projectThe Environmental Industry (EI) sub-project

launched as a sub-project of the LTP project in fiscal

year 2002, conducted studies on: 1) major issues facing

the development of environmental industries (environ-

mental technology and hardware and environmental

management services) in the four selected Asian coun-

tries (China, India, Indonesia and the Republic of Korea)

and 2) national government policies to deal with those

issues. In June 2003, EI sub-project, invit ing a

researcher from the United States, extended the discus-

sion at the 2nd Workshop to the contributions of interna-

tional organisations, foreign multinational corporations

and intercity cooperation on the development of environ-

mental industry in the target countries. The results of the

EI sub-project resulted in the publication of an IGES

report on "Environmental Industry Development in

Selected Asian Developing Countries; China, India,

Indonesia and Republic of Korea".

Looking Towards the Third PhaseFY 2004 will be the final year for both APEIS /

RISPO and APFED, which have been implemented

since FY 2002. Therefore we will be compiling the final

results of the research done so far.

With regards to the research plan for Phase 3, we

will continue to look closely at the research concept and

implementation plan in preparation for the start of Phase

3 in April 2004.

Documents

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